Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon

22 reviews

batcaves's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Infertility, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicide, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

megelizabeth's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

I WILL NEVER RECOVER FROM THIS BOOK.

Jennifer McMahon is quickly becoming a favourite author for me. She crafts such incredible, layered narratives, deftly manages alternating timelines, and depicts family relationships, and particularly relationships between sisters, so, so well, and this book is no exception. It's wonderfully atmospheric, brilliantly plotted, and absolutely, completely, utterly devastating.

This was looking to be a 4.5* for me, as I would've liked to have had more clarity over Declan's role in the story, and also although I was loving it, I wasn't finding myself entirely surprised by anything that was happening. However, I definitely spoke too soon there, as the ending shocked me so, so much that I had to read it multiple times to make sure I'd understood it right, and part of me really, really wishes that I hadn't and that I could've stayed in blissful ignorance. My heart will never ever be the same after that ending, and yet I know I'll do it to myself again as I just cannot stay away from McMahon's incredible stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Self harm, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Infertility, and Alcoholism

Minor: Drug use and Injury/Injury detail

amberghinii's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Self harm, Addiction, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcoholism

readwithbells's review against another edition

5.0

This subverted all my expectations. It’s not really a horror but it IS a true gothic and man did it keep me engaged the whole time. Usually with dual perspectives between the past and the present, it doesn’t really work for me, but the way this one was told absolutely did. This is more a story of grief then anything else and is really sad, but I loved the way everything built upon each other. Absolutely my favourite version of “be careful what you wish for”. 

Loved:
- that we knew there was an entity in the pool the whole time
- the way mental health and self harm was dealt with
- the complex familial relationships 
- the ending!! Was exactly what I expected and yet done in a wonderfully surprising way
- the audiobook narrators: loved having 2 of them and they both absolutely smashed it, *highly* recommend the audio version 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, and Child death

Moderate: Infertility and Alcoholism

Minor: Terminal illness

kayelina's review

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Addiction, and Alcohol

onemorepagecrew's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

3.0

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon was a bit of a disappointment for me.  I kept wanting it to surprise me or have a unique plot point, but unfortunately it never came.  For my review I tried to imagine I was someone who hasn’t read endless thrillers and many generational ghost stories, and through that lens it’s a decent read.  

 

Let’s back up though and talk plot. In it we meet Jax, who is returning to the house she grew up in after her sister has drowned in the pool.  We also meet Ethel, who visited the family’s estate in the 1920s when it was a hotel.  The story weaves between the two timelines and tells the story of the land and the families who have occupied it throughout time. There are multiple unreliable narratives / narrators and in my opinion, that was the backbone for the mystery. 

 

I love a ghost story and I really love generational stories.  I love thrillers and horror.  This should have been a brilliant fit of a read for me, but it just lacked the punchiness and originality.  Again, if you don’t consume paranormal thrillers often this would likely be a good read.  It just wasn’t a great fit for me, personally. 

 

Content warnings: Death, Drowning, Mental illness, Self-harm, Child death, Alcoholism, Infertility 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Infertility, Death, and Self harm

dalmavatai's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Not as good as The Children on the Hill imo, I found the character development in that one superior. Even so, this is a super solid horror read with a lot of suspense and a memorable sister relationship.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, and Infertility

Minor: Suicide

lfbennett407's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Alcoholism

chassard's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I really enjoyed this!! I don’t typically read things that have a supernatural element but now I’m going to start seeking more out. I picked this up at the airport when I had nothing else to read, so I had very little expectation for it, but I really loved it. I do think the ending could’ve had an extra twist or something to it, but overall it was a really fun read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, and Infertility

Moderate: Self harm and Alcoholism

dumaurier's review

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

both stories were mid as separate works, but the back and forth weakened the narratives considerably. the ending is rushed and disappointing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Alcoholism, and Self harm

Minor: Suicide and Terminal illness